Defending champion Simon, Gasquet, Moya, Acasuso advance to semifinals in Bucharest

All four seeds still alive entering Friday’s quarterfinal matches at the BCR Open Romania in Bucharest came out victorious and advanced to the semifinals.

No. 1 seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet (pictured), came from a set down to defeat Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-1, to earn a spot in his second ATP semifinal of the season. Rain interrupted play in the first set tiebreaker throwing off the Frenchman’s momentum. Currently ranked No. 12 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, Gasquet quickly refocused and was able to cruise in the second and third sets to advance. Gasquet smashed 8 aces, converted on six of eight break point chances and won 79 percent of his first serve points in the almost two hour match. The win marked Gasquet’s 26th victory of the season, while Gabashvili dropped to 11-10 on the year. In the semifinals Gasquet will meet No. 6 seed Carlos Moya, with the Spaniard leading all time series 2-0. The only meeting on clay courts occurred in Mexico in 2004, with Moya coming from behind to defeat the relatively new to the tour Frenchman in three sets.

In a two and a half hour battle, the 32-year-old veteran who turned pro in 1995, edged out Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. The 1998 Roland Garros champion and former World No. 1 hit 10 aces compared to only 3 double faults and won 76 percent of his first serve points. Last season, Moya won the title in Umag (Croatia), which marked the eighth time in as many years that he has one at least one title. With a win on Saturday over Gasquet, Moya would advance to his 44th career ATP final, having won 20 titles already. Today’s victory by Moya’s marked his 12th win on red clay this season.

Defending champion and No. 2 seed Gilles Simon and 2004 champion Jose Acasuso had less trouble advancing to the semifinals as they both won in straight sets. Simon earned a 6-2, 6-3, win over fellow Frenchman Florent Serra to advance. At one point in the first set, Simon won sixteen of seventeen points on Serra’s serve, which included four service breaks. Acasuso defeated Spaniard Ivan Navarro, 6-4, 6-4, to earn his third semifinal appearance of the season. Simon leads the series with Acasuso 3-0. Both wins that occurred this season were played on hard courts with Simon winning in straight sets two weeks ago at the US Open in the second round.